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Google has a great idea for helping emergency services respond faster

When the police, fire brigade or ambulances need to respond quickly to an emergency call, accurate information about the caller’s location is crucial to helping them arrive in time to be of assistance.

With that in mind, Google has introduced a feature in Android that beams your location to emergency services automatically when you call them. It uses your Wi-Fi, GPS and cell tower information to pinpoint exactly where you are and sends across the data without allowing it to be accessed by anyone else.

It’s now active in the UK and Estonia and Google hopes to enable it across the globe over time. The feature works on Android 2.3 and above; Google says that means it can address 99 percent of all devices on its mobile platform worldwide. Hopefully it won’t be long before it’s launched more widely.